Every time I think I am getting closer to knowing what the whole content game is, more amazing stuff comes around. It may sound frustrating but really it amazes me as to how much each word, order of words, color palette and even your choice of bullets can actually make or break the deal. And that to me is sheer power! power of compelling action using just the right content…wow.

If you think the intro is too over the top (like that thought never crossed my mind) then this will help your belief system – “Copywriting isn’t that mysterious. We’ve got over 100 years of data on tested and true tactics that always work when you want more people to buy or take some form of action.”

In this post I’d like to share a study material (along with the above mentioned quote) from one of my ongoing courses on Coursera – The Strategy of Content Marketing by Sonia Simone, Chief Content Officer, Rainmaker Digital, LLC. The material is light and easy to digest, especially for beginners, and it leaves you with some very basic pointers that will come in handy when trying to create effective content (print, audio or video).

Winning Premise – this is the foundation to what your content will be for your customers. will it be just another ad in the noisy prime time section or will it something your consumers will relate to. Establishing a groundbreaking premise determines the reaction/action of your target audience. The premise holds in it the core emotion or message that the customer will live with for days to come. Remember how Coca Cola has been selling happiness.

Premise is not always the USP – i will go back to Coca Cola for this one. take a moment to realize that the product is a fizzy drink that might go very well with a pizza but there are no earth shattering aspects to a carbonated drink. And then there is competition which is selling more or less the same stuff. So the premise of your content should not rely on USP that might not always be unique or the selling proposition that your customers are looking for.

Research and more research – so now that we know that obvious is not obvious when it comes to content marketing, go out there and find answers. Content is the king because customers make it the king. A thorough understanding of your target audience, their requirements, expectations and emotions is probably the step before step 1 of content marketing.

Broader picture – Do Not Forget the Broader Picture! All the words, sounds and visuals are there for a reason which is to make the customer act. Having a clear selling proposition and call to action allows the customer to react to your content. It happens more often than you think, you start with a winning concept, jazz it up with the keywords but lose track of what the customer is supposed to do when they come across this content.

Keep it simpler than simple – and i couldn’t agree more with the example given in this course material. Nike has given you the success mantra of life in just 3 simple words – Just Do it. As a marketer I cannot even begin to express how overwhelming all the product or company information could be to begin with, because let’s face it every company thinks they are the best and their product unbeatable. The process of boiling all that information down to a phrase that has literally shaped many a lives is beyond genius. And it is part of content marketing to simplify things and present to the customers the most refined version of your thoughts.

I know what you are thinking…what are the 5 Ps to Content Marketing? well that you will find in the link mentioned above and honestly it is what you NOW already know. My attempt was to build a **drumrolls** PREMISE and that starts with a P 😀

If you are in India or an Indian in any part of the world, then I believe you have already been swept by the videos and pictures of this kohl eyed girl who until yesterday we had no idea about. Yes, I am talking about Priya Varrier who has now become the “most searched celebrity in India in a span of 2 day”! Now there couldn’t have been a stronger nudge than this for me to write about this subject, so here it goes…

Literally, all it took was a barrage of facial expressions and a wink that appears for a few seconds and the whole country was head over heels in love and awe for this teenage girl from Kerala.

The result?… everyone was occupied on social media talking about this video, sharing it, liking it, making memes about it and most importantly relating to it. If at this point you are asking yourself this question “how can I make it viral?” then here are some quick tips to win the viral game.

#1 CONTENT IS (& WILL ALWAYS BE) KING

I know I am not the first one to say this so ignore the mic drop. But seriously, it is the content to start with that will potentially make it viral in the end. Content marketing was widely spoken about in 2017 and its ripple effect will continue even this year, only the focus will be on Video Content in 2018. With the proliferation of features on social media platforms that has made video an easy to access, view and share form of communication, people now like what they watch (not just see).

Also, you’d agree that videos are a more spontaneous and interactive form of “talking” to your audience. So for starters keep up and adapt to new forms of content to make it viral.

#2 RELEVANCE, DON’T LOSE IT

This brings me back to the viral video that urged me to include this point in the list of techniques. Well not everyday you see viral videos making headlines but whenever you do, it is mostly about a subject/topic/event/phenomenon that was already being talked about. In the case of this video clip trailer for a song in Priya Varrier’s debut Malayalam film, Oru Adaar Love, which was launched during the valentine’s week when the youth of this nation was already fishing for something playful and romantic to kick start their valentine’s participation on social media. And they found it in the twenty-seconds iconic wink 😉

Thus it is really important for your content to be relevant to the times which will make it easier for people to relate to it. Now that does not mean you cannot change the subject and that is where the next technique comes into picture.

#3 HIT THE EMOTION

Again emphasizing on the content, the core of your message should cater to the emotions of your audience. Be it happy, sad, shock or annoying…if it’s different it will work. Remember the Turkish chef aka “Salt Bae” who sprinkled some salt with loads of attitude and rocked the internet last year? Also, the dancing hot dog which until today I have not been able to make much sense of, and now very famous Prof Kelly and his adorable kids who walked into his study while he was live on BBC. Some of these never seen before stuff on internet were bound to go viral because everyone’s looking forward to some thunderbolt event to start their day.

#4 BE SELECTIVE

Now here I want to talk about a misconception about Viral Marketing. As the name and subject suggests, we are talking about volume, number, quantity and the bigger the better type. So going by this understanding, the universe is your audience to achieve the scale of being viral. But NO! the concept of targeting still applies. You need to be selective and know your target audience for your content. This will further help you in selecting the right communication channel, reach to people which related interests and pick influencers who are important for these target audience.

#5 MAKE IT EASY TO SPREAD

It has to be contagious like viral. If your content is easy to share, download and embed then it will be spread as fast as virus does. So, allow people to share your content or message easily, embed it on their own sites and download it for use later. While doing all this, make sure your simplify your message for people to understand and share.

There you go! now you know it all. I hope these techniques will help you make your content go big. And for me…this gif is making me hungry 😐

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Let’s say if I have 10 unread emails in my inbox, chances are that at least 3 of them are some kind of a marketing proposal. Marketing proposals are usually written by advertising and marketing agencies, design companies, or by individuals who are pitching an idea to a potential client. Who wouldn’t want to know about these ideas that can potentially uplift the existing marketing efforts and drive results. So I usually reserve my time for reading these emails and the hidden agenda (not so hidden anymore) is to know what’s new in the market, statistics that can change the game and most importantly what’s becoming obsolete.

Agencies usually cover a casket of communication channels including the traditional newspaper, television, radio and trendy social media platforms. But they also explore some rather unconventional channels to take the customers by surprise. If i were to use a nomenclature then this is typically known as Guerrilla Marketing – unconventional (read “in your face”) promotion of products and services with little budget to spend.

Here I want to talk about one such type of guerrilla marketing tactics that has garnered a self explanatory name for itself – Tissue Box Marketing. I am sure you are are not impressed yet and I don’t blame you. Having your logo and company information on a pack of tissues what’s the big deal right?! Here’s the big deal…

Guerrilla form of marketing falls under ATL (Above the Line) Marketing where the objective is to reach to the masses and spread awareness. As a marketeer I know that ATL strategies are hackneyed as hell because you do the usual mass media stuff like print ads, radio and flyer distribution at high foot fall areas. Yes, flyers in this digital day and age! we all know what happens when an overly colorful and informative piece of paper is shoved into our hands…a quick scan and you get rid of it in most cases.

*For me I keep anything that has home delivery service 😛

But what if this flyer was more than just a piece of paper? AHA moment!

Enters the idea of tissue box marketing which is extremely prevalent in Japan (not sure if it originated there). The pictures show that your messaging can be sophisticated or crude but you can be sure that the customer will make space for it in his pocket or purse. wallah! you got inside their pocket what else. As a marketer I find this as such an achievement because now every bearer of your tissue pack is an ambassador of your brand. Also, tissue paper as a product connects with the customers who use it for their personal hygiene. That for me is win – win.

The sheer simplicity and effectiveness of this revamped version of an old tactic has impressed me a lot. The only best thing that can top this would be distributing free food haha 😀

Past couple of weeks I have been “dismissing” the morning alarms (yes, plural) on my phone, which once used to be snoozed to death before I would even consider calling it a new day. With eyes wide open, I wondered what could be wrong? Did I finally satiate my body and mind with the slumber that it had been craving for all these years OR am I an insomniac now? The plethora of possibilities and webMD did not present a good picture…the endless web of internal links landed me on the most dreaded page called “cancer symptoms”. Time for some positive thoughts, I said to myself, and decided on a very generic prognosis for my unusual sleep pattern – STRESS. Surrounded by scented candles, essential oils and green tea mugs (both empty and filled) I thought the de-stressing game was on point…at least the Instagram pictures would make you think so.

As I crashed after a soulful day, the thought of waking up just in time to manage looking like a human for office made me smile. Next morning with eyes wide open and the phone screen shining bright on my face, I had two questions on my mind…What is wrong with me? And Why is green tea so over rated? It was then, 4:30 in the morning, that an email notification which read ‘win a diamond ring’ made me go AH HA! While I was still connecting the dots in my mind and working out a possible cause, a series of email notifications started a frenzy of vibrating fits on my phone. Diamonds, grocery free codes, discount coupons, mall offers, season collection…you name it and I had it in my inbox at 5 o’clock in the morning! That’s like 2 hours before my first alarm goes off, are you kidding me?

This ‘vibrating-ping-pong-notification-fest’ has been keeping me awake all this while. Pheww…it’s not insomnia but now I’m definitely stressed about how to stop this noisy morning ritual which I don’t even recollect starting in the first place. For the first time I was opening emails that were either ‘too good to be true’ or ‘too much to be real’. And the irony…as a marketer I often work on content for email marketing and newsletters and being on the receiving end of it was not quite pleasant. With a heavy heart and serious doubt for my profession I decided to unsubscribe and stop receiving these emails and newsletters.

The first was an online apparel site where I have never bought anything but I do like to check out what’s in store so I gave this one a pass. Next was an online grocery which had a coupon code and some simple steps to use it. After I was done grocery shopping and efficiently using the coupon to avail discount, there was no way I was going to unsubscribe this one. It took me 2 hours to realize that I could safely unsubscribe 2 emails that were completely useless in my inbox the rest (13 of them) were in fact of some use for me. This was a bitter sweet moment for me… when I appreciated my profession that allowed communication of such life changing offers and also dreaded the sleepless early mornings.

I was startled by the “nothing else matters” ring tone on my husband’s mobile phone when he said those golden words that would change my mornings forever…. “can you put that on silent please”.